Herbert Randall, Untitled (Lower East Side, NY), c. 1960

Herb Randall: I was interested in this particular street on the lower part of the photograph. Because I had taken a series of photographs on that street.

Narrator: Like the other Kamoinge photographers, Herb Randall thought of his project as being art, not journalism. But often the works involved an element of social commentary anyway.  

Herb Randall: And just the devastation from the—they were just tearing this whole area down, and I'm sure to build something “wonderful” in its place. But the children, I don't know where they came from because there was really no place to live, so they must've came from a couple of blocks away or whatever to come to this street. 

What I found, I guess, in retrospect is, what the hell are these kids doing...this is their playground? This is education? 

I would rather people have a choice. You know, if you want to play in the gutter, then play in the gutter. This is their playground. They had no choice, in a sense. That bothers me. You have to play in crap? No human being needs to do that.